So make no mistake: John McCain did not â€œsuspendâ€ his campaign. He just turned a national crisis into an occasion to promote his campaign. Itâ€™s become just another political stunt, aimed more at shoring up the Senatorâ€™s political fortunes than the nationâ€™s economy. And it does nothing to help advance this critical legislation to protect the American people during this time of economic crisis.

John McCain sought to change the subject from his out-of-touch response to the economic crisis with a big announcement that he was â€œsuspendingâ€ his campaign. But the only thing McCain really wants suspended is the American peopleâ€™s disbelief. In fact, heâ€™s been in full campaign mode the entire time.

Instead of heading to Washington right away, Senator McCain stuck around in New York to do TV interviews, spend the night, and give a scheduled speech. Though the McCain campaign announced yesterday that they were also â€œsuspendingâ€ their attack ads, they continued to run Thursday.

When McCain finally arrived in Washington, almost twenty-four hours after his announcement â€“ and after Congressional leadership announced a deal in principle â€“ he huddled with his lobbyist campaign advisors while his running mate held a political rally and his political spokesmen and surrogates were out in full force, continuing to attack Barack Obama.

So make no mistake: John McCain did not â€œsuspendâ€ his campaign. He just turned a national crisis into an occasion to promote his campaign. Itâ€™s become just another political stunt, aimed more at shoring up the Senatorâ€™s political fortunes than the nationâ€™s economy. And it does nothing to help advance this critical legislation to protect the American people during this time of economic crisis.

With all that being said by Obama’s campaign, I just have to ask one question: Why is Obama also sitting here at the table?

The answer: Because Obama couldn’t afford not to be at the table after being almost forced to follow McCain’s lead on this.

Obama must have thought that heading back to Washington was a good idea considering that politicians of all stripes have been using words like “meltdown,” “crisis,” and “disaster.”

Sound off below, who is trying to score more political points on this issue, McCain or Obama?

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Nate

Obama said he would go and help in any way he could but he also said that he could both run his campaign and go to washington. Mccain is clearly pulling a stunt here!

JD

McCain did do this to score points but I don’t think he expected the outcry about it either.

I would not be supprised to see a surge in Obama’s Poll #’s if McCain Fails to show tomorrow.

McCain is taking a huge risk on this and like Palin, the longer people have time to think about what he is doing the more doubt they have about him… or rather they should.

I see this as a way to take control back more than just scoring points(although it does that as well). McCain needs to control the debate schedule, control the Polls, and control the media. Especially since #1 issue in the US is economy and he is not the candidate of choice in this area.

So I’ll run through the tally.

McCain to control debate schedule – 1 Pt.
Obama shows to take adantave of the hype and to avoid the possability of looking bad – 1 Pt.
McCain to control the Press – 1 Pt.
McCain to look like country over campaign – 1 Pt.
McCain to try and take image of leader in economical affairs – 1 pt.
Obama joint press statement – 1 Pt.

…

The real question is going to be which points are going to be a plus and which ones will blow up in thier face (a negative point).

> Obama must have thought that heading back to Washington was a good idea

This is not the same as “suspending a campaign” and calling for the debates to be delayed. Obama is simply doing what a leader needs to do: dealing with multiple concerns at once.

Mgck59

I felt McCain did use the current quote “crisis” plaguing the American economy as a tool for his campaign. He was just too dramatic, along with Bush and, the heart felt sincerity fell a tad bit short of believable. But, hey who am I to say. I’m just Joe Q public one of the innocent suckers that has to pick up the tab for all this mess.

JD: “I would not be supprised to see a surge in Obamaâ€™s Poll #â€™s if McCain Fails to show tomorrow.”

I would agree with you, as fickle as it is. If we play the hypothetical and say that McCain was indeed trying to put the country first, he’d still be criticized and penalized for skipping the debate. On the other hand, he’d also be criticized and penalized if this was all a political stunt.

Every move has a consequence but the way politicians kept speaking about the bailout issue, you’d think there was no way Obama, Biden, or McCain could afford not to be in Washington doing their jobs as senators.

Rightly or wrongly, McCain would lose points for skipping the debate. Here’s to hoping he makes it and they have a real discussion about things, I can’t see how he wont. Clearly his campaign is calculating any fallout damage from actually skipping the debate. Preliminary polling, for what it’s worth, indicates 70% of voters think skipping the debate is a bad move. That being said, I don’t think any leader should govern based on polls.

Who knows, the whole thing’s a mess right now.

Grey

Who’s trying to win more political points?

If I had to conjecture, it would be based on whether or not McCain will actually show up at the debate.

If McCain doesn’t show, my personal likelihood of voting for him will rise considerably- politically, it’s a stupid move, but it would also mean that this move wasn’t political posturing. I don’t think he would miss the fact that not showing up at the debate would be a huge pitfall in his campaign.

If he does show, then that seals the deal- it means he was either always doing it for the polls or cares more about the debate than the crisis. No outs there.

Best case scenario for him is that the bailout plan is hammered out before the debate, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.

You make an excellent point I hadn’t thought it. If there is no deal reached and McCain makes the debate anyway, doesn’t that undermine everything he said? Of course it does. If there is no deal tomorrow McCain, based on his own words, may not have the option of showing up if he wants to maintain some kind of continuity in his campaign. On the other hand, a deal may be made and McCain might triumphantly enter Mississippi with some kind of political victory, perhaps.

Eagerly awaiting tomorrow.. This is one of those plays nearing the end of the third quarter which could make or break the fourth quarter. Perhaps you can tell my interest has peaked since I rarely ever get into commenting this much. It’s just the thrill of discussing the same thing both the Obama and McCain campaign advisors must be discussing as well.

mavsreader

McCain’s own campaign needs reforming and he’s unwilling to do it. Continuing to retain Mr. Davis tells America just how serious he is about â€œreformâ€. Postcards from Washington will not convince Americans otherwise.

OBAMA_SUCKS

Chris you say,
â€œObama said he would go and help in any way he could but he also said that he could both run his campaign and go to washington.â€

Actually Barack said that if they needed him they could call him and he would come if they needed help.

McCain on the other hand dropped everything to deal with the current and biggest crisis. He didnt ask if they needed him, he knew that they needed him there. McCain made Obama seem childish after both had given there statements which i just summarized.

I believe the American people especially in swing states will like that One man took the right course and did what he believe not as a political â€œstuntâ€ (as the obama campaign stunpidly put it) but rather as a way of showing the people of America, his people that he John Sidney McCain would put them first to help get a huge bill of expansion of government and tons of their money spent in a different and better way. John McCain is a man of the people.

Mgck59

Now come on did we really think they would come to a solution prior to the debate. To seal the deal so that McCain wouldn’t be available for the debate was the Republicans walking out of the compromise that was put on the table today. How convenient! Shrewed to say the least.

T’mok

Hypothetically, is it possible that McCain could be the hero and “save the day”? Is it possible that there is a whole lot of drama being played to position McCain to be the hero?

Bush proposes a preposterous bailout concept. NOBODY thinks it’s fair, wise or sufferable for tax payers to bear the $700 billion responsibility for the nefarious activities of numerous bank CEOs. So the Democratic Congress steps up to give the bailout some substance and palatability. Today that plan was summarily opposed by the Republicans.

So what if McCain, instead of going to the debate, “puts his country first” and draws up his own plan? Do you think it would be well received by his party? How could the Democrats in Congress respond to that? How does it make Obama look?

Have we thoroughly examined this crisis? Are there any WMDs around as well?

*dons tinfoil hat and scampers off*

JD

Nate – “Itâ€™s just the thrill of discussing the same thing both the Obama and McCain campaign advisors must be discussing as well.”

And you know they are loosing sleep as well over it as well.

Alright, so we all seem to speculate that he will show because of the likely fall out if he doesn’t as the polls indicate (which could be wrong).

However, Let us assume that he doesn’t show.

Will it be Barack on stage by himself?
Will they continue the Debate but only talk to Barack?
Will Barack answer question from the crowd?
Will the format be more loose freeing him up to talk about the economy for an entire hour?

Will they hold the Debate even if McCain does not show?

Mgck59

Personally I find both candidates to be a bit tiring. Each is lacking the leadership I would have preferred for America. But, it comes down to this “one we know already has the back alley, and dirty dealings with other countries. The other we have to only pray will have the best interest of America at heart when they pick the allies that they will make back alley dirty deals with.”

Dreadsen

They said they would convert it into a townhall style for Obama if McCain doesn’t show up.
They town spent 5 million dollars on this. They don’t want to cancel it.

Jake

In response to “Why is Obama at this table?”:

Regardless of party affiliation and what you think of the president, when the president calls and says, “Come meet with me to discuss possible solutions to this problem,” you go.

PeoplePower

Obama said several things on Wednesday that I found very comforting and encouraging, as well as I found showed solid leadership.

1. A President needs to handle more than one thing at a time
2. Injecting Presidential politics into this is likely to be more disruptive than helpful
3. He will be happy to hop on his big shiny jet and run to Washington if he is needed, just as McCain could do

Jake puts it well. I feel very little fondness for this President. What fondness there is revolves around the office and not the person or his (largely) reprehensible policies.

That being said, if I were in a position such that the President called me and said, “We need you to come to Washington for this joint conference.”

I would be on the very next plane to do what I could to help.

This was the call that Obama was referring to. It’s not childish or arrogant, it’s appropriate. He’s running a Presidential campaign and needs to continue to get his message out, regardless of the crisis du jour. And if he is called to help, he’ll go.

Still, I think it was a *horrible* idea for *either* McCain or Obama to go. They have infused this crisis with Presidential politics. Now, *who* gets the credit for the solution becomes a political football that could greatly impact the election!

Alternatively, both candidates could suffer in the polls greatly….whomever is seen to playing politics with this will likely get hurt in the polls, and if they both are, perhaps several Independents will begin polling much higher.

Grey’s point is well taken (I concur with Nate). McCain has boxed himself into a corner on this one– and it is unfortunate.

While I do not begrudge Obama for calling McCain’s actions tainted by presidential politics, I think Obama is doing them as well. It’s really sad to see this– two great men with admirable causes facing a crisis, and caught up in manure.

Michael Wilson

If you are right – then it is a bold move!
I’m not sure that the US public interprets it that way.
Nevertheless, I rely on the polls to tell me whether the public feels the same way you do.

I use a widget to keep track of the progression of polls. The widget shows the election polls by strength of states.
In addition to other different graphical visualizations of data, this one displays the progression of votes over time.
Hereby you can see how/if the states have moved!

Here we will see whether this is simply a media stunt or whether McCain will retain the lost ground!

Make a difference, keep on voting!

Stalin

All McCain has to say is that he’d rather lose an election than lose the economy and he’ll be the hero. Sound familiar?

Stalin

I think some of you spoke to this, Grey, Michael, Nate:

The only way for McCain to come out ahead in this situation is for him to help hammer out a solution today, fly down to the debate with the deal in hand and explain to Obama how he got it done. That is a long shot, but would be a game changer.

JD

Dreadsen – “They said they would convert it into a town hall style for Obama if McCain doesnâ€™t show up.”

That is hilarious, since McCain complained that Obama won’t do a town hall meeting with him. I wonder if this is a bit of a middle finger to him.

Still, it will be the most widely viewed town hall meeting and that can only be a good thing for Obama and a bad thing for McCain.

Even if A bill is agreed on by the parties… The Democrats are going to say it had nothing to do with the candidates being there and\or Obama was the hero of the hour. While the Republicans will say McCain was required and was the hero of the hour.

So McCain is just going to be canceled out with the he said, she said between the Dems and the Repubs.

HE HAS TO ATTEND THE DEBATE FOR SOME DISASTER CONTROL!

If not than it will only prove that he is just stubborn and not able to fix things when he makes mistakes. Which will put him even more in the corner of being a Bush III.

The polls are not in favor of Mac Daddy and this stunt. This could be the moment where people will look back and say this was the defining reason McCain lost the election and used in the future to teach candidates what not to do.

Stalin

JD,

Are you willing to bet on your assumptions? I wouldn’t if I were you. McCain is not stupid and his campaign certainly isn’t either. They won’t just let this play out. Right now, McCain has leverage and Obama doesn’t. McCain has options. He can stay in Washington and try to get the deal done. Or he can fly down to MS for 90 mins and tell the world that Obama isn’t taking this crisis seriously. Obama has one option…stay in MS and see what happens.

On the fence

Well as an undecided I must say I have been looking forward to this debate and would be extremely disappointed in John McClain if he chose not to attend…..

JD

Stalin,

I am serious. As serious as the heart attack that is looming over McCain.

I do not see it as you do but that should be no surprise. In my book McCain has to show and he will show because of the pressure and flack he will get if he doesn’t.

Still if I were to bet than here is the outline of my bet. Whichever one of us is wrong must not and can post any replies for the entirety of the weekend. You can read the posts but you cannot reply to any of them.

Now before we take this bet I need to first know what you are saying. Are you saying he will or won’t show? Or rather what are we betting on? Are we betting that if he doesn’t show that his poll numbers will fall and Obama’s will go up?

Let me know what it is you want to bet on so i can understand. None the less, if the bet is excepted… The lose cannot post for the entire weekend. Monday will resume posting rights so discussion on the supposed Bailout package can commence.

What says you Stalin?

OBJB

In case flying to NY for scheduled dinners and speaking arrangements instead of heading straight to DC didn’t convince anyone this is all bravado….

I am saying that he will show. I’m not betting on anything. I’m just saying that McCain has more options that Obama which is a good thing

Babs

Nate, you’re a little wrong here:

“You make an excellent point I hadnâ€™t thought it. If there is no deal reached and McCain makes the debate anyway, doesnâ€™t that undermine everything he said? Of course it does.”

No, it doesn’t, that’s Obama’s talking points. McCain never said he wouldn’t debate unless a deal was done – he said he would debate if there was PROGRESS made toward a deal. We know today that there has been some progress made according to the dozens of lawmakers who have been interviewed, and McCain will make the debate – then go back to Washington.

Stalin

I think you need to look at the big picture here. Americans see McCain busting his butt to get this done. Country First. American see Obama telling people to call him if they need him while he hangs out at the gym. (Yes he was at the gym this morning while everyone else tried to get a deal done) There is just a drastic difference of character here. Whether McCain can help get a deal done of not, I want the guy that at least tried.

Katie

Does Obama wear eyeshadow? Yes! Watch tonight and see for yourself.

Kate

A couple of things said and done by McCain have lately started to worry me.
When he said he’d rather lose this election than fail the economy, it made me nervous. I would think, if McCain really believes he’s the best man to be president and that our country would suffer under Obama, his top priority would be to win the presidency. There are hundreds in people in Washington to work on the bail out plan, I fail to see that the help of one more person (however great they may be) could help that much more. However, there is only one man- himself- who can speak to the American people at the debate and win this presidency for himself.
It also makes me nervous that he would think to cancel the debate in the first place. I am tired of a president who always does what he thinks is “right”- whether or not there is proof of it’s merit or the American people agree with his judgement/actions. I want a president who is logical, calm, and wise beyond just what he as an individual thinks. I want him to care what the country thinks is important, what the world thinks is important. I’d rather him take the time to understand a situation and all that is involved before jumping in with rash actions and words that cannot be taken back.
Many of us have thought of McCain as a maverick but have started to doubt it lately. This whole “suspension” thing seems like a ploy to do something “Maverick-y” and grab back that title.

I just think we should start picking our presidents based on something other than sound bytes and empty gestures that give us “warm American fuzzies”.

Stalin

Well Kate you can rest easy because the debate is back on…but our economy may be reset to the dark ages…sleep tight.

Greg

Let’s see. Obama insults McCain by claiming McCain’s return to Washington was a “stunt”…and then tags right along after realizing McCain made the RIGHT decision. Clearly, this shows who is the leader and who is the FOLLOWER. The nation needs a leader.

IndiMinded

Yeah, and a lot of good those presidential candidates did in the senate in the last day or so, huh? Wowee, if this is what happens when they actually do their jobs, what would happen if they stopped?

Stalin

Indy:

We don’t know what McCain has done behind the scenes. All we know is what the liberal media has told us. I don’t think McCain was in DC this whole time with his thumb up his $#@. Lets wait and see what he says tonight.

If he would have come in like a cowboy and started raising hell, he would have been called a grandstander…no win situation isn’t it.

It was a stunt, but Obama missed a golden opportunity of calling out McCain saying that they should let thier VP’s debate in their place. I’d place a months wages that McCain wouldn’t allow Palin to debate instead of him, which would show the American people that if anything did happen to the old guy that she wouldn’t be ready.

Alucard

I caught that Sarah Silverman video JD, Hilarious! That lady has such a funny disposition, I love it.

I have read all the posts on this thread and it seems the majority of you are leaning towards Obama at least that’s the impression that I get.

I for one am happy with the Bush administration. In would go as far as to say they are excellent teachers.

As for my opinion of some of the issues being discussed on this thread, I think a major problem with the status of the economy today stems from deregulation. Deregulation can be directly attributed to the sub prime mortgage crisis as well as corporate greed, financial blunders such as the situation with Enron and various other financial entities. It is a fact that Big business does not have the same interests as working Americans. This is evident when you look into the numbers of companies that give back to communities or donate to worthy causes (what ever your definition of ‘worthy cause’ may be) versus those who donate to political parties that promise a more lucrative future.
It’s not just the big companies or just a few individuals that are corrupt though. Deregulation is a breeding ground for economic destruction. What deregulation does is go after those organizations we put in place to protect us to muddy the waters and save a buck on the back end. A quick example of this is the inspection process of constructing a new building. There used to be at least 4 inspectors that used to come out to my jobs to make sure the building was being constructed to National standards. Now there is one. One guy/girl overseeing the construction of the entire building. No longer does someone who knows about electricity inspect the installation of the electrical components. It’s an ex-mason or some other tradesman that doesn’t know what they are looking at or whether it is safe or not. The trades see this because they are getting their plans signed off by the city as well and begin to cut corners. This in return puts the superintendent in a tough situation because, if he/she is any good they know better and have to make them do it right. But Superintendents are rated on how much they earn the company more often then not. This effectively puts those good supersintendents on the unemployment list and replaces them with en-experienced people, either willing to make shortcuts or don’t recognize one when they see it. This is just one example but it has the same negative affect in every industry.
Deregulation may stimulate the economy up front because it loosens the standards enabling productivity to increase, therefore more circulation of money. However, it opens the door to corruption and economic destruction pinning brother against brother. Which we have seen a little too much of throughout this administration.
Does anyone know why de-reg is a policy? other then to save a few bucks to finance say…..a war? Should we be in Iraq as a big metaphorical punching bag to be hit only when terrorists feel like making the trip from Afganistan?

In closing I just want to say thank you Mr. Bush and associates, through your misguided administration I learned what deregulation was, how it affects the United States and exactly what I do not want in a president this next time around.

P.S. I am one of those lucky people who have the liberty of making over $250,000 a year and will gladly pay the additional taxes that Obama is proposing.

also, if you happen to read this Mr. Obama, way to handle your self like a gentleman through all the negative adds.

Jim819

McCain did what a good leader does in a time of great crisis. He went back to Wash. to bring House Repubs into the process and to help bring Congress together on a finalized plan which won`t cost 700 bill. if we`re lucky!

Obama is simply playing the role of consultant. Call him if needed. That`s not the kind of leadership we can believe in.

And this stuff about doing 2 things at once is ridiculous. Of course McCain can do 2 or more things at once, like he`s doing now, (went to Wash. to do his current job, went to debate, went back to Wash. to do his current job.). But there is still just 1 crisis of this magnitude going on right now and McCain`s there to bring Congress together on something ASAP, as he has done so often and successfully in the past!

How’s McCain bringing the congress together? even some Republicans are saying McCain isn’t needed. THE only reason McCain is in Washington is to try and do some political grandstanding if/when a deal is struck. McCain offers nothing because he knows nothing about the economy.

How he always brings Congress together – he`s open-minded enough to find common ground and then works from there to bring Congress together. That`s the reason even some Dems wanted him there. And that includes Harry Reid before realizing that might hurt his guy!

“…even some Republicans are saying McCain isnâ€™t needed…”

Maybe some but not most!

“…THE only reason McCain is in Washington is to try and do some political grandstanding if/when a deal is struck…”

Nonsense! There`s no way he does this and lets BO rip him a new one on the campaign trail, thereby, also allowing BO to frame the debate any way he likes to the American people. Otoh, if he has something to do with bringing Congress together to pass something, that`s called being a leader and doing his job when needed most – not political grandstanding!

“…McCain offers nothing because he knows nothing about the economy…”

He`s not there to provide economic expertise. I already explained what he`s there for. And judging by the debate last night, McCain knows as much about the economy as BO does!

“…And the opinion poll on Realclearpolitics.com reflects that.”

I don`t place must stock in polls of an uninformed and/or misinformed public!

Just for starters, we still haven`t gotten the whole story from McCain yet!

Susan Magner

If you are questioning Obama’s return to Washington there are two factors. 1) Obama was keeping in touch with Treasury Secretary and his democratic Senators and Representatives. 2) President Bush called him and asked him to attend the meeting. That is why he went.

And as he said, we need a President that is able to due multitasking.

susan

My Perdiction,
As usual McCain loses the Election,Sarah Palin is offered a News Casters job,good opportunity for her and Barack Obama and his team restore the lives of innocent brainwashed Americans.
S.K

So where were the two candidates at this time? Not there for the deal eh? Probably because it could be done with out them and both of them weren’t even involved in the whole fiasco until the last stunt which was pulled to call them in. Like they were going to do something. That’s like painting an entire picture and needing someone to put one stroke on it to finish it.

Jim819

NO! We know now that the House Repubs weren`t on board at all until McCain entered the picture. If McCain had never gotten involved, the House Repubs would still be disorganized and no doubt complaining about this and that and the other thing!

Instead, they are now correctly stating that McCain brought them together to move forward and have their voices heard! If not for all this, we probably would have ended up with something much closer to the original plan!

And that`s something none of us wanted!

Babs

I think a lot of this conversation has been premature in nature. The whole story of who did what will not play out until this bill is done one way or the other, and history begins to record the facts.

Right now I have one question that hasn’t been answered, and I’m going to wait to get that answer. That is, when Obama was talking everyday to Paulson, Pelosi, Reid, and Dodd, which one did he talk into diverting a percentage of OUR paypack on this deal to his alma mater of ACORN? In my own research I can’t find any of these people with any ties to ACORN except Barack Obama. So I want to know – while he was “phoning in” everyday, WHAT was he phoning in?

Pelosi herself said last week that this bill would never pass unless McCain put his support behind it with republicans. She asked for him, she got him, toyota. She has called republicans unpatriotic through this in front of the cameras. (Biden calls us unpatriotic if we don’t want to pay more taxes.) When did the democrats get so patriotic, and how partisan and divisive is it for Pelosi to make such a statement about republicans whose support on this bill she says is vital? How stupid is this woman?

I found it interesting that Pelosi touted yesterday on camera that the first draft of this bill came from a “bipartisan” effort. In fact, the democrats were in one room, and the republicans in another, running papers back and forth between the two. In the “bipartisan” effort, there were 9 democrats present for every 2 republicans present, and Reid refused to pull any of “his people” from the negotiations to make it more fair. Where’s the bipartisan effort there? How stupid do Pelosi, Reid, and Dodd think we taxpayers are that we don’t see the partisanship here, and that we don’t see the politics injected into the situation in a major way? They have even said that the bill adopted was as OBAMA wanted it, and that the problem was a biproduct of “the failed 8 years of the Bush administration” according to Pelosi?

Are we as taxpayers going to roll over and believe the lies that are being told to us hourly? You can if you want, personally I’m taking names. And Pelosi’s is at the top of the list. Next to Reid, who is senile and needs to just sit down, and Dodd, who’s Countrywide hands are so dirty I can’t believe we’re letting him even discuss this subject with anyone.